US forces ambushed as they hunt pro-Saddam fighters

US troops hunted die-hard Saddam Hussein loyalists in hostile towns around Baghdad yesterday after guerillas fired rocket-propelled grenades at two US convoys in the latest in a series of ambushes.

US Central Command said it had launched a new mission, Operation Desert Scorpion, to hunt for pro-Saddam fighters who have mounted several deadly attacks in the restive towns and villages to the north and west of the Iraqi capital.

Troops would "identify and defeat selected Baath party loyalists, terrorist organisations and criminal elements while delivering humanitarian aid simultaneously", it said.

Angry locals say US raids are stoking hostility towards the Americans and fuelling demands across Iraq for occupying forces to leave. On Sunday, hundreds of people marched through Basra to demand that the British troops running the southern city hand over power to an Iraqi local government.

Around 40 US soldiers have been killed in hostile attacks and ambushes since the start of May, mostly in Baghdad and two nearby areas - to the west around Ramadi and Falluja, and to the north around Balad, Baquba and Tikrit, Saddam's home town.

The US army said two of its convoys were ambushed on Sunday near Balad, around 90 kilometres north of Baghdad.

In one ambush, a rocket-propelled grenade aimed at a US vehicle missed its target and hit a civilian bus.

"The number of casualties on the civilian bus are not known at this time," an army statement said.

In the other ambush, soldiers returned fire after they were attacked with rocket-propelled grenades at Dujail, near Balad. "The attackers fled the area," the army said.